Laminate flooring wont snap together!
#1
11-25-18, 12:51 PM
Laminate flooring wont snap together!
I have quick step laminate flooring and no matter how I try it wont snap together. I have seems everywhere! I've watched videos and I'm doing it the way they say to do it which is to angle one piece to another and snap it down. If I get a good fit on one end of the board I have a seam at the other.
The boxes have sat in the house over a week before I started. Have I just got cheap flooring!?!?
The boxes have sat in the house over a week before I started. Have I just got cheap flooring!?!?
#2
11-25-18, 12:55 PM
Group Moderator
If you have gaps everywhere then you need to start over. You shouldn't have gaps anywhere... so your very first row must not be straight or locked together.
#3
11-25-18, 06:09 PM
Member
Check the grooves for debris and other specs of junk, a major cause of planks not interlocking. Check your stagger, boards should be staggered by 1/3rd of a board minimum. As stated, everything needs to be straight for things to lock down. Often times on thinner laminate, there is a slight warp or bow to the board which needs to be noted when lining up the tongue and groove. Before trying to engage, make sure you have good contact along the entire length of the plank.
#4
11-25-18, 07:00 PM
Do you have the special tool for tapping the planks tightly together? It's a plastic block that gets placed against the plank and you tap it with a mallet to force the tongue into the groove.
#5
11-26-18, 02:10 AM
Member
Ive only done a couple of small areas in the basement with laminate, one 15 years ago was tongue and groove glue down and a piece of cake to install. The last one here in this house was a snap fit and I struggled with it the entire project, never again!
Krap in the grooves from milling process prevented installation and simply not happy with the fit, if I didnt mention, never again.
Krap in the grooves from milling process prevented installation and simply not happy with the fit, if I didnt mention, never again.
#6
11-26-18, 06:09 PM
Member
Never use a tapping tool with laminate, it simply is not needed. I have installed every laminate floor with nothing but my bare hands. Tapping tools leave mark on the laminate that destroy that board and you have to throw it out. If you need a tapping tool, you are doing it wrong. Have installed high end laminate and bargain basement, all went together without any sort of tapping tool.
#7
11-26-18, 06:21 PM
Never use a tapping tool with laminate, it simply is not needed. I have installed every laminate floor with nothing but my bare hands. Tapping tools leave mark on the laminate that destroy that board and you have to throw it out. If you need a tapping tool, you are doing it wrong. Have installed high end laminate and bargain basement, all went together without any sort of tapping tool.
#8
11-26-18, 07:48 PM
Member
You may be OK with bamboo as it has some rigidity, but normal laminate will chip along the edge if hit wrong with a tapping tool. I just figured out how to make it happen without the tool. It can be done, just a little technique that needs to be learned.
